'AP Model of Sub-Plan Helps Improve Status of Dalits'

HYDERABAD: To improve the social and economic status of Dalit and Adivasi communities, the Andhra Pradesh model of Scheduled Castes and Tribals Sub-Plan should be implemented across the country, said PS Krishnan, former Secretary to Government of India.

Krishnan said if the Special Component Plan (SCP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) had been formulated in the manner required by the constitutional mandate, SCs and STs would have achieved more progress. Referring to the promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his pre-election campaign in Kerala, he appealed to the PM to enact SCP and TSP so that the funds of SCs and STs would be prevented from being diverted to other schemes.

Speaking at a national workshop on the ‘Enactment of SCP and TSP at national level’ here on Thursday, Krishnan demanded that the Union government follow the footsteps of Karnataka which passed the bill of SC Sub-Plan and TSP in 2013.

Kaki Madhava Rao, former Chief Secretary of AP, said SCs and STs were not benefiting from the funds which were allotted exclusively for them.

Though the united AP government brought legislation on SC and ST Sub-Plan making mandatory fund allocation in the budget on the basis of population ratio of SCs and STs, it has not been implemented properly.

The workshop, which was jointly organised by the Centre for Dalit Studies (CDS) and Samajika Samarastha Vedika (SSV), was attended by representatives of several Dalit and Adivasi organisations from States like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and New Delhi.